Over The Moon

To My smart, handsome, curious, funny and growing little boy:

I wanted to list some of the things that have my heart bursting for you at this moment. There are so many times each day that I find my mind wandering toward just how much I love you. It really is true what they say: the love you have for your child is insurmountable and it pulls at your heart like no other.

I love the way you say mama. Hearing it is like music to my ears.

I love when you do "ahh Mommy" or "ahh Daddy" and pet our cheeks while looking intently in our eyes. It's amazing.To me this is your way of saying "I love you too".

I love the way you love your "brother" Dutch. You ask about him often now, which is adorable.

Your curiosity. You need to know what is in/on/under anything and everything and you do whatever it takes to explore and learn about a new object.

Your sense of humor. You are so funny at such a young age! You think it's hilarious to put anything on your head and say "hat!". You also love to touch things you're not supposed to and give us the side eye with a smirk.

I love when we play "chase". You think its hysterical to be chased by Mommy. I say "I'm coming to get cha!" and you run away laughing.

I love the way you crash at the end of the day. When it's time for bed, you show it. You let us know that you've had a full day and are ready to sleep. You and Daddy are just alike.

I love how interested you are in reading books. It is by far your favorite thing to do. You love to turn the pages and point out things on the book that you find interesting.

Your words. They are adorable. You learn new ones all the time and hearing you talk to us is amazing.

I love your sense of wonder. When you learn something new (a word, what an object is, when we show you something) you think it is amazing.

The way you love to "clean up". It's in your genes.

I love the way you look to us for reassurance that whatever you are doing is ok.

I love your giggle. You crack yourself up sometimes out of nowhere.

There are so many more things I love about you (EVERYTHING!), but for now, I wanted to document these that have me over the moon for you. I love you to the moon and back!

Love,
Mama

Colin Bennett: Fourteen Months!

Mr. Colin Man,

It's hard to believe yet another month has come and gone! You hit some major milestones this month and we are loving every minute of watching you grow and learn. You have such a funny and constantly growing personality. You make us laugh all the time. Just last week you took your cheerio bowl and put it on your head and said "hat?". Comedian I tell ya!  At fourteen months you are...

Weighing in at 22.5 pounds and are 30+ inches long. You are a walkin' (running) and talking fool!  You eat like a champ and do not discriminate when it comes to food.
You are wearing a few twelve but mostly eighteen month onesies and eighteen month bottoms.  You are still in size 4 diapers.

Health: You can't seem to catch a break. You started the month with a ranging ear infection that landed you in the urgent care on the fourth of July. You had a 102.7 fever and could not get comfortable. We were away on vacation so we rushed right over to the urgent care as soon as they opened. You had a healthy(ish) two weeks with only a few days of sniffles until you ended up with yet another ear infection and pink eye last weekend. You are finishing up both oral antibiotics for the ear infection and eye drops for the pink eye.

Eating: You start each day with a sippy cup of organic milk and some cheerios around 6:15/6:30. You get breakfast around 8 and another sippy cup of juice or water. You typically eat lunch around 11:30 and go down for nap by 12:30. When you wake up you typically get a snack and a sippy of milk and eat dinner around 5:30, when you get your last sippy for the day. You eat anything and everything and have a healthy diet. You eat a ton of fruits and veggies, lean protein (eggs, chicken, turkey, yogurt, cheese) and will get a treat of french toast on the weekends. 

Loves: BOOKS! You learned how to say "book" this month and will follow us around the house with a book in the air saying "book!" until we read them. You love books with "interactive parts" (ie: flaps to open, things to feel and touch) and know exactly when to open them. We have read "Where's Spot" and "That's Not My Dinosaur" 1007 times this month.

You also love to play in your water table and explore outside.

One of your favorite things to do is also go to the park and swing on the swings. You giggle and laugh and get the biggest smile on your face! I wish we had somewhere we could put one at our house!

Sleeping: Through the night, all night until you had your ear infections. We let you sleep in our bed when you couldn't get comfortable. On July 23rd, you needed us. You were getting two molars and starting to show signs of an ear infection. You just could not get comfortable. When I went in to check on you, you woke up and wanted nothing more than to be held. We caved and let you sleep in between us, which is always much more comfortable for you than us. Just before your eyes closed and you settled in for bed, you rolled towards me, patted my check and looked me in the eyes as to say "thank you, Mommy! I love you" then put your little arm around my neck. You fell asleep like that. I think this is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. Colin you changed my life forever. I am your Mommy, the best job in the world. I will do everything in my power to make sure you are safe and comfortable.

Talking: your current vocabulary includes: hat, bye bye, beep beep (for your beep beep jeep), Uch (Dutch), Book, Mama, Dada, Bear bee (Barenstein Bears), Uh oh. You try your darndest to repeat just about everything we say. We have to start really watching our words! ;)

You also will repeat animal sounds! We say "Colin, what does a ____ say?" and you say:
Rah (lion)
Moo (cow)
Baah *your fav* (sheep)
roof foof (dog or uch)
Quack (duck)

This month's milestones:
Give me a kiss! (You will kiss me or Daddy)
TALKING! You picked up and have started talking with flying colors this month.
Repeating animal sounds

doing "ahhh Dutch" which is our version of petting nicely

Nicknames: Collywoods, C, Beebs, Beep, Beepadee, sneep, bee bee and Colin Man

We love you so much sweet baby boy. You make our lives whole and we can't possibly imagine loving you any more, yet each day we do! We love reading you stories this month and will drop whatever we are doing to read you the book you pick out. It's been so fun watching your walking skills develop each week as you take on new areas to explore. This month, you went from taking a few steps, to walking everywhere (no more crawling) to being able to stand without pulling up.  Can't wait to see what the next month has in store for you. We love you to the moon and back, Colin!
Love,
Mama and Daddy